A father and his son whose ages were not immediately available were burnt to ashes and two people were slightly injured in a road accident involving three vehicles on the R104 Rustenburg-Old Pretoria road in the North West province on Tuesday afternoon.
The horrific crash occurred at around 5:00pm about 15 kilometers outside Rustenburg near Rainbow Chicken factory. It is alleged that a Renault that was driving from Rustenburg towards Buffelspoort hit a Nissan Sentra from behind forcing it to collide with an army vehicle, a Ratel that was part of a convoy of army vehicles. The Nissan Sentra with two occupants caught fire on impact underneath the Rattle and both passengers who were in the Nissan Sentra were burned to ashes.
The army vehicle was definitely not at fault but speeding and failure to observe safe following distance could have caused the accident.
The driver and the passenger from the Renault were slightly injured and rushed by paramedics to Netcare Fern Crest and Peglarae hospitals. No one from the army vehicle was injured.
The road was complete closed during the rush hour and one lane reopened after two hours. Provincial Road traffic management officers conducted traffic until around midnight as police and crime scene experts reconstructed the accident scene, cleared the wreakages and debris from the road.
North West MEC for Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison, Desbo Mohono wishes to convey her condolences to the family that lost their loved ones in the accident and wish the injured road users a speedy recovery.
MEC Mohono confirmed that police are investigating cases of culpable homicide and or reckless driving. She appealed to motorists to observe safe following distances and to drive with caution particularly during rush hours.
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele
Tel: 018 391 0420
Cell: 083 629 1987
E-mail: LKgwele@nwpg.gov.za
